Electrochemical characterization of globotriose-containing self-assembled monolayers on nanoporous gold and their binding of soybean agglutinin

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of α-d-Gal-(1→4)-β-d-Gal-(1→4)-β-d-Glc-mercaptooctane (globotriose, Gb3-C8-SH) were prepared both as single-component SAMs and as mixed SAMs with either octanethiol (OCT) or 8-mercapto-3,6-dioxaoctanol (HO-PEG2-SH), on flat gold and on nanoporous gold (NPG) electrodes. The binding of soybean agglutinin (SBA) to the globotriose (Gb3) unit in the SAMs was then studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), which is a label free method found to be quite sensitive to SAM composition and to the differences in SAM structure on NPG versus on flat Au. The affinity of SBA to the mixed SAM of HO-PEG2-SH and Gb3-C8-SH on NPG is found to be greater on NPG than on flat gold, and indicates a potential advantage for NPG as a substrate. The SAMs of HO-PEG2-SH were found to resist protein adsorption on either NPG or flat gold. The non-specific adsorption of SBA to OCT SAMs on flat Au was observed in EIS by the increase in charge transfer resistance; whereas, the increase seen on the NPG surface was smaller, and suggests that EIS measurements on NPG are less affected by non-specific protein adsorption. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of the SBA binding to mixed SAM of HO-PEG2-SH and Gb3-C8-SH on NPG showed a greater number of proteins on top of the OCT containing SAMs.

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► Synthesis of α-d-Gal-(1→4)-β-d-Gal-(1→4)-β-d-Glc-mercaptooctane is reported.
► Electrochemical characterization of self-assembled monolayers.
► Comparison of flat versus nanoporous gold as a substrate.
► Examination of lectin binding using impedance spectroscopy.